Vista del Mar Middle

Vista del Mar Middle is a middle school of small scale in San Clemente, California, overseen by Capistrano Unified, educateing 499 students in grades 6 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 659 students per school, that is 24% smaller than typical.

Within Capistrano Unified, which oversees 58 schools and 40,251 students, Vista del Mar Middle is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Vista del Mar Middle reports that White students make up the majority at 74%. Other groups include 12% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 4% Asian. That is visibly more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 43%.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Vista del Mar Middle has 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.3:1. The state averages around 20.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 16% of students at Vista del Mar Middle qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Orange County (around 55%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Vista del Mar Middle sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 69.8%; this one delivers 74.3%.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Orange County indicate median household earnings sit near $116,289, about 44% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Orange County runs 649 public schools (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students), of which Vista del Mar Middle is one.

Vista del Mar Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Vista del Mar Middle. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Vista del Mar Middle at 2nd of 9; the average score across the group is 59.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Looking at the recent track record. Vista del Mar Middle's enrollment has declined 22% since 2018, when it stood at 642 (now 499). The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 23.4:1 in 2018 to 22.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Vista del Mar Middle community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.